is a scooter allowed on the boat transportation to MK

[serenitygr]

I'm not sure if there is a better place to post this, but hoping some campers have experienced with it and will know. We are coming to Fort Wilderness this Christmas. I just saw a thread on another board about scooters not allowed on the boat transport to one of the other resorts. My mom is coming with us and for part of the time (mostly to get a break from us, I think ) she is going to get a room maybe at AoA. But she will be spending most of her time with us. Never even thought of it being a problem but now I am wondering- she needs a scooter- in fact one of the reasons we talked her into coming was because we can bring her scooter in the storage of our motorhome. But is there a problem if she is staying at the campground and we take the boat to MK? Or do we have to take a bus somewhere and transfer?

 

[North of Mouse]

I'm not sure if there is a better place to post this, but hoping some campers have experienced with it and will know. We are coming to Fort Wilderness this Christmas. I just saw a thread on another board about scooters not allowed on the boat transport to one of the other resorts. My mom is coming with us and for part of the time (mostly to get a break from us, I think ) she is going to get a room maybe at AoA. But she will be spending most of her time with us. Never even thought of it being a problem but now I am wondering- she needs a scooter- in fact one of the reasons we talked her into coming was because we can bring her scooter in the storage of our motorhome. But is there a problem if she is staying at the campground and we take the boat to MK? Or do we have to take a bus somewhere and transfer?

Yes, they are allowed on the large boat only. They cannot fit on the smaller ones. The resorts (except Wilderness Lodge) have smaller boats, hence no room for scooters.

 

[serenitygr]

Yes, they are allowed on the large boat only. They cannot fit on the smaller ones. The resorts (except Wilderness Lodge) have smaller boats, hence no room for scooters.

Thanks North of Mouse! Are all the boats going to MK "large boats"? Or do we need to wait for a certain one? And does the MK boat also stop at the other resorts in case we want to explore?

 

[lililoo12]

mk boat only goes from ttc to mk. it is always a big ferry boat

 

[Epeyon]

There is always at least one of the larger boats on the route for the campground to the Magic Kingdom. Usually there are two so there's no need to wait for a specific one.

On occasions the boat will also stop at the Wilderness Lodge and might pick up ECVs there too, then you would have to wait. But usually it isn't a problem.

If you look at the flag in the front you can tell where the boat is going. If it's Green it will only go between the Campground and MK. If it's Red and Green then it stops at both the Campground and the Wilderness Lodge and MK. Before 3 p.m. it goes Campground, Lodge, MK, after 3 p.m. it goes Lodge, Campground, MK.

 

[North of Mouse]

Thanks North of Mouse! Are all the boats going to MK "large boats"? Or do we need to wait for a certain one? And does the MK boat also stop at the other resorts in case we want to explore?

Only the smaller boats (launches) make a circle around FW, Wilderness Lodge, Contemporary.

The large boat *only* goes to the MK, with occasional stops at Wilderness Lodge (generally only at very slow times).

To explore the resorts, you would need to take a bus or monorail from a park or Ticket/Transportation Center. You can't take a bus from resort to resort unless it happens to be on that particular busses route already.

Hope this isn't too confusing. If you wanted to go to Contemporary with the scooter, you could take the large boat to MK, then either a bus, or there is a nice 5min. short walk from MK to Contemporary.

 

[rock_doctor]

Just be aware there are two flavors of "big boats". There are older ones that have a very narrow 90deg turn around the pilot house as soon as you walk on board and the newer ones where the turn is not quite 90deg plus there is a little more room once you step though the door. The older ones will only take small travel scooters and small wheel chairs but the newer ones will take small and mid size travel scooters and all wheel chairs. We have a Sunrunner 4 (a big scooter) and it does not fit on anything. If you can fit the scooter in your camper bring it. If you want to know more. Post your question in the disABILITIES forum. Sue knows all... Have a great time.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

i never had a problem on the bigger bost to MK. it can be a tough turn to get parked. had a CM tell me that scooter can be hard to load if water is low in lake. we are not talking about the large ferries from TTC to MK

 

[retired and happy]

The entry about the ferry boat is misleading. There is a ferry that goes only from the TTC to the MK, but the issue here is from the Fort to the MK. As you walk out on the dock toward the boats at the Marina, the MK (or MK/Lodge) boat will almost always dock on your left side. The smaller open boats to the resorts will dock on your right side. We have not had a problem with our three wheelchairs on the MK boat, except our son's new chair is too big to go to the middle of the boat, so it has to ride in front of the pilot's "cabin". our other chairs will fit down the aisle, so we take them to the middle of the boat where there is an open space for the chairs. I was not aware there was any new boat with wider access. We will have to check closer on our next visit. Previous posters are correct in that the resort boats do not take wheelchairs or scooters.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . had a CM tell me that scooter can be hard to load if water is low in lake . . .

1) When the water is low, the ramp is too angled.
2) There is no "dock leveler", so the ramp is steep.
3) Some scooters bottom-out and can't load/unload.
4) You can tell almost the second you reach the dock.
5) No problem, just take the bus, as they have scooter/chair lifts.

 

[North of Mouse]

The entry about the ferry boat is misleading. There is a ferry that goes only from the TTC to the MK, but the issue here is from the Fort to the MK. As you walk out on the dock toward the boats at the Marina, the MK (or MK/Lodge) boat will almost always dock on your left side. The smaller open boats to the resorts will dock on your right side. We have not had a problem with our three wheelchairs on the MK boat, except our son's new chair is too big to go to the middle of the boat, so it has to ride in front of the pilot's "cabin". our other chairs will fit down the aisle, so we take them to the middle of the boat where there is an open space for the chairs. I was not aware there was any new boat with wider access. We will have to check closer on our next visit. Previous posters are correct in that the resort boats do not take wheelchairs or scooters.

I'm confused too about what the PP said about *newer* boats being more accommodating of scooters. We were just there in Dec. and never saw a scooter that couldn't get on a boat - never saw any but the one type large boat either.

 

[rock_doctor]

Ok let me clarify. You have second generation (my term) where the pilot house covers the whole doorway (stairs are to the rear of the pilot house). You walk in and you have something close to 2.5 ft where you have to turn the wheel chair in its own space. I have to lift the rear wheels of my moms wheel chair and spin her around to fit. You can get a normal chair on these and a small travel scooter. The newer boats (stairs on the rear corner) are the third generation (my term) but still 4 or 5 yrs old. The pilot house is a little more forward and they have more room between the door and pilot house, not a lot more but enough to allow you to get on and off w/o removing paint. So you can easily (backwards) wheel a wheel chair on to it and small to mid size scooters can also use these boats. So when i say new i just mean newer then the older generation. Next time you are there pay attention to where the pilot house is and the room from the wall to door. You will see what i mean. I could not find an open door image of the "Bon Voyage" or her sister "Castaways". I found a couple sites with images. i originally linked the photos into the post but didn't think it was appropriate to use somebody eases images...

The "Bon Voyage" is the older gen (yellow boat) and the "Mermaid I" is a newer generation (turquoise)...
http://www.bigfloridacountry.com/wdwwaterfleet.htm

Another shot of the "Mermaid I" (door open)
http://cavnessfamily.com/disney/Sept2001/vacation1.html